❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding government funding and training programs within the Western Australian pig industry between 2006-2009, revealing funding sources and trainee numbers, and future training plans.
AnsweredQoN 431Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) What funding has the Government provided for training in the pig industry in Western Australia in, -
(a) 2006;
(b) 2007;
(c) 2008; and
(d) 2009?
(2) How many students have, -
(a) enrolled; and
(b) completed training certificates,
In courses run by the Pork Industry Training Western Australia (PITWA) in, -
(i) 2006;
(ii) 2007;
(iii) 2008; and
(iv) 2009?
(3) Will the PITWA be conducting any courses in 2009?
(4) If yes to (3), what courses will be conducted, and how will they be funded?
(5) Did the Government invest into, the Western Australia Pig Skills Centre Pty Ltd?
(6) If yes to (5), what was the basis of this investment and how much was invested?
(7) Have all of these funds been allocated and spent?
(8) Is this investment company intended to provide income, and therefore ongoing funding, for training to the pig industry into the future?
(9) What is the value today of that investment?
(10) How many trainees have completed courses run by the Western Australian Pig Skills Centre Pty Ltd since it commenced?
(a) 2006;
(b) 2007;
(c) 2008; and
(d) 2009?
(2) How many students have, -
(a) enrolled; and
(b) completed training certificates,
In courses run by the Pork Industry Training Western Australia (PITWA) in, -
(i) 2006;
(ii) 2007;
(iii) 2008; and
(iv) 2009?
(3) Will the PITWA be conducting any courses in 2009?
(4) If yes to (3), what courses will be conducted, and how will they be funded?
(5) Did the Government invest into, the Western Australia Pig Skills Centre Pty Ltd?
(6) If yes to (5), what was the basis of this investment and how much was invested?
(7) Have all of these funds been allocated and spent?
(8) Is this investment company intended to provide income, and therefore ongoing funding, for training to the pig industry into the future?
(9) What is the value today of that investment?
(10) How many trainees have completed courses run by the Western Australian Pig Skills Centre Pty Ltd since it commenced?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
12 May 2009
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection representing the Minister for Agriculture and Food
Response time
42 days
(1a-d) There have been no Western Australian Government funds used for training in the pork industry during these years. The salary and operating expenses of the Training Officer in Pork Industry Training WA (PITWA) is fully funded by pork producers via a Fee for Service collected from producers in accordance with the provisions of the
Agricultural Produce Commission Act 1988
and the Agricultural Produce (Pork Production Industry) Regulations 2004. This Fee for Service is collected by the Agricultural Produce Commission. The Western Australian (WA) pork industry is one of the few agricultural industries to fund a position of training officer. The only Government funds that have been used for training during this period are via traineeships from the Federal Government.
(2) (a) (i) 9.
(ii) 6.
(iii) 0.
(iv) 0.
(b) (i) 9.
(ii) 4.
(iii) 0.
(iv) 0.
The decline in numbers undertaking certificate III courses is in part due to the number of skilled workers entering the industry from the Philippines, for whom this particular training is not available. There were regular intakes of 10 to 12 students per year for five to 10 years prior to 2006, and with the downturn in the industry in 2007 and 2008 it was more difficult to convince producers to undertake training at this level.
Note also that training certificates are only one small part of training that has been organised and delivered by PITWA. Numerous courses on subjects such as artificial insemination, ProHand (learning how to handle pigs in a welfare-friendly manner), farrowing, environment, shed design with a special training program in 2008 on the Fit to Load Guide (48 participants), a first for the Pork Industry in Australia. In addition, the PITWA Training Officer was instrumental in arranging work experience for young people considering a career in the pig industry as well as students from Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia and providing facilities for students from Muresk.
(3) The Training Officer who had been employed by PITWA since its inception in 2002 was successful in being appointed to a senior position with Australian Pork Limited (APL) in Canberra in mid-2008. The committee of PITWA has since undertaken a review of the Training Officer position and is about to re-appoint a Training Officer. Once this person has taken up their position then their main role will be to arrange training within the WA pork industry.
(4) If there is sufficient interest, a Certificate III course may commence in late 2009, but it is more likely that PITWA will concentrate on organising short-courses and work experience for new entrants into the industry. A major focus of training will be related to animal welfare to comply with the new national code of practice requirements which requires changes to the Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2003: The Pig Code. Other courses will include one-day sessions on risk management, reproductive performance and occupational health and safety. Funding for these courses will come either from pork producers, Australian Pork Limited or the West Australian Pork Producers Association.
(5) The Western Australian Government provided funding of $30,000 for the WA Pig Skills Centre via the Commerce and Trade Regional Initiative. The WA Pig Skills Centre located at Muresk was built with a grant of $504,800 from the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), which was matched by the same amount from WA pork producers via the Pig Industry Compensation Fund (PICF), and $150,000 from the National Pork Industry Development Program. An additional amount of $254,800 was granted from the PICF of which $150,800 was re-paid and the remaining amount is on permanent loan.
(6) The total cost of the WA Pig Skills Centre was approximately $1.29m, with the total investment being used to provide the state-of-the art breeder unit that is used for training and demonstration purposes. Australian Pork Limited has since invested approximately $20,000 to equip one building with an alternative farrowing system as a demonstration of animal welfare principles.
(7) All of these funds were spent on construction and equipping the Pig Skills Centre.
(8) The WA Pig Skills Centre is not an investment company. The income that is received by the Pig Skills Centre is used for items such as rent, insurance, maintenance and upgrades to facilities. The main objective of the Pig Skills Centre Board has always been to make certain that the facilities are maintained in good condition and to incorporate where possible the latest technology so that the industry has a facility that can be used for training, rather than provide funding to support training per se.
(9) The value of that investment has been depreciated since its construction, and the official value of the facility is now zero.
(10) The WA Pig Skills Centre does not run courses but is solely responsible for the maintenance and operation of the training centre. All training in the WA pork industry is co-ordinated through Pork Industry Training WA which is a completely separate body. Numbers for formal (accredited) certification courses are provided above in answer to question 2. On average there are about 80-100 attendees annually for the non-accredited short training courses.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Agricultural Produce Commission Act 1988
and the Agricultural Produce (Pork Production Industry) Regulations 2004. This Fee for Service is collected by the Agricultural Produce Commission. The Western Australian (WA) pork industry is one of the few agricultural industries to fund a position of training officer. The only Government funds that have been used for training during this period are via traineeships from the Federal Government.
(2) (a) (i) 9.
(ii) 6.
(iii) 0.
(iv) 0.
(b) (i) 9.
(ii) 4.
(iii) 0.
(iv) 0.
The decline in numbers undertaking certificate III courses is in part due to the number of skilled workers entering the industry from the Philippines, for whom this particular training is not available. There were regular intakes of 10 to 12 students per year for five to 10 years prior to 2006, and with the downturn in the industry in 2007 and 2008 it was more difficult to convince producers to undertake training at this level.
Note also that training certificates are only one small part of training that has been organised and delivered by PITWA. Numerous courses on subjects such as artificial insemination, ProHand (learning how to handle pigs in a welfare-friendly manner), farrowing, environment, shed design with a special training program in 2008 on the Fit to Load Guide (48 participants), a first for the Pork Industry in Australia. In addition, the PITWA Training Officer was instrumental in arranging work experience for young people considering a career in the pig industry as well as students from Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia and providing facilities for students from Muresk.
(3) The Training Officer who had been employed by PITWA since its inception in 2002 was successful in being appointed to a senior position with Australian Pork Limited (APL) in Canberra in mid-2008. The committee of PITWA has since undertaken a review of the Training Officer position and is about to re-appoint a Training Officer. Once this person has taken up their position then their main role will be to arrange training within the WA pork industry.
(4) If there is sufficient interest, a Certificate III course may commence in late 2009, but it is more likely that PITWA will concentrate on organising short-courses and work experience for new entrants into the industry. A major focus of training will be related to animal welfare to comply with the new national code of practice requirements which requires changes to the Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2003: The Pig Code. Other courses will include one-day sessions on risk management, reproductive performance and occupational health and safety. Funding for these courses will come either from pork producers, Australian Pork Limited or the West Australian Pork Producers Association.
(5) The Western Australian Government provided funding of $30,000 for the WA Pig Skills Centre via the Commerce and Trade Regional Initiative. The WA Pig Skills Centre located at Muresk was built with a grant of $504,800 from the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), which was matched by the same amount from WA pork producers via the Pig Industry Compensation Fund (PICF), and $150,000 from the National Pork Industry Development Program. An additional amount of $254,800 was granted from the PICF of which $150,800 was re-paid and the remaining amount is on permanent loan.
(6) The total cost of the WA Pig Skills Centre was approximately $1.29m, with the total investment being used to provide the state-of-the art breeder unit that is used for training and demonstration purposes. Australian Pork Limited has since invested approximately $20,000 to equip one building with an alternative farrowing system as a demonstration of animal welfare principles.
(7) All of these funds were spent on construction and equipping the Pig Skills Centre.
(8) The WA Pig Skills Centre is not an investment company. The income that is received by the Pig Skills Centre is used for items such as rent, insurance, maintenance and upgrades to facilities. The main objective of the Pig Skills Centre Board has always been to make certain that the facilities are maintained in good condition and to incorporate where possible the latest technology so that the industry has a facility that can be used for training, rather than provide funding to support training per se.
(9) The value of that investment has been depreciated since its construction, and the official value of the facility is now zero.
(10) The WA Pig Skills Centre does not run courses but is solely responsible for the maintenance and operation of the training centre. All training in the WA pork industry is co-ordinated through Pork Industry Training WA which is a completely separate body. Numbers for formal (accredited) certification courses are provided above in answer to question 2. On average there are about 80-100 attendees annually for the non-accredited short training courses.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.